Most BJJ gyms offer kids classes. In fact, kid’s classes are often the most popular in terms of numbers and can be seen as the lifeblood of a school as a result. Typically, children can start learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as early as four years old and can still train in the kid’s classes until age sixteen. At that point in most cases, they are seen as physically and mentally ready to roll with adults, regardless of their gender. Generally, a typical children’s BJJ class can be quite different compared to an adult class for a variety of reasons. These reasons will be discussed in detail below.
Table of Contents
Fun & Games
The adult class typically follows the format of warm-ups, drilling and then sparring. Whilst kids also spend the bulk of their time drilling and sparring – many gyms will opt for a less formal warm up which often involves fun and games. Sometimes these games include jumping over a BJJ belt and trying to avoid getting hit, or trying to escape a giant ball that is thrown by the teacher.
Various gyms will have their own teaching style but mostly these will involve running around and dodging objects. In doing so, most kids will find these activities really fun whilst getting in a good cardio warm up. It is then up to the individual school as to whether the children will warm up like adults, but usually this is shortened due to the limited attention span of children.
Drilling
Like adults, it’s important for kids to drill. Probably the bulk of their class is spent drilling and for good reason. Unlike adults, children can quickly learn and adapt better as their brains are still young and more susceptible to picking up concepts. As a result, it’s not uncommon for experienced kids to have better dynamic movements when compared to equally experienced adults. In brief, a child will watch and learn quicker than an adult.
Because of this, there should be a strong focus in drilling. Again, unlike adults children are more likely to retain knowledge once being taught. This means even if your child does eventually quit BJJ, they may still remember it in parts. This may be of interest to any adults who want their children to train for self-defense reasons as once kids learn, it’s more likely to stick for life unlike an adult.
Sparring
Children’s sparring is usually more playful than intense. For kids, the idea is mostly around fun and there is generally less ego with this in mind. Typically, children can’t use a lot of submissions when compared to adults but this depends on the school. For instance, most kids can’t do leg locks and many can’t do shoulder locks until older. Similarly, when applying triangle chokes – the child cannot pull on their opponent’s neck which is considered a crank.
In short, safety is paramount with children whilst sparring. Whilst children are naturally more resilient than adults anyway, it’s equally important to set rules to limit injuries. Generally speaking, injuries don’t really happen in the kid’s class anyway. One reason for this is that the teacher is often watching and makes sure submissions aren’t cranked and that dangerous positions aren’t entered.
Kids competition classes
If you have more serious ambitions for your child’s Jiu Jitsu, then you may be interested in kid’s competition classes. Whilst many gyms don’t offer this service, some of the bigger more known gyms do. The idea here is to get kids into a competition mentality and improve their sport BJJ. By nature of the competition class, the class will typically be more competitive and intense than a typical kids class. This is the same as an adults competition class.
However, there’s still an emphasis on fun compared to the adult version. Often the point of these classes is to improve cardio and build teamwork and mental strength. If your child does these classes, they may be tougher than usual but shouldn’t be exhausting for the child.
Please keep in mind that these classes aren’t for everyone. In fact, if your child is unsure about BJJ or likes it as a hobby, then throwing them into a competition class could be counterproductive. In short, the competitive nature may be too overwhelming for some and may put them off training for life.
Because of this, kids should be gently eased into these kinds of environments and shouldn’t be forced into competition against their will. Too often you will see adults living vicariously through their children and push them into training when it’s against the will of the child which is not fair.
Age groups
Often gyms will divide their kid’s classes to keep things sensible. For instance, the idea of a four year old sparring a fourteen year old is laughable. Because of this, kid’s classes are often separated. For instance, you may have a 4-7 year olds class, a 7-11 year olds class and then a teen class. This means your child won’t be put against a giant opponent, nor will they be put against a much smaller training partner.
Having said this, if the gym is too small, then sometimes kids from 4-16 will train alongside each other. This is rare and usually the case if there aren’t enough kids to separate. In this case, whilst drilling may involve an age gap, the older kids still won’t spar the younger ones as the physical difference could lead to danger.
Kids classes are usually less frequent than adult classes
One unique part of the children’s class is that they’re typically not on as much as adults classes. One reason for this is that children are usually at school from 9AM until 3PM. Because of this, kids cannot partake in BJJ during the daytime unlike some adults. As well as this, there often isn’t as much demand for kids classes to be on as much as adults. Although most gyms will have a high number of child practitioners, usually they only run 3-4 classes per week. One benefit of this is that kid’s classes are often substantially cheaper than adult classes.
One reason may be that most parent schedules are meant to be fit around these times but regardless, this is fairly standard in BJJ. If you do want your child to train more than 3 times per week however, you could always look at crosstraining with other gyms in the area to maximise training. However, as previously mentioned – it’s important not to push your child too far as it may lead to resentment and burnout.
Summary
Overall, kids classes are a fun and engaging entry into BJJ. Often the idea is to teach kids BJJ in a safe and welcoming environment which also promotes fitness and self-confidence. With this said, getting your child into BJJ is a good idea and can help set them up for life both mentally and physically.
Whilst most children will eventually quit at some point which is common amongst youngsters, there are a select few kids who continue training into adulthood and become very proficient on the mats. At the same time, it’s equally important to let your child express themselves without forcing them into training which can create more negativity rather than positivity.
